MEET NOLLYWOOD’S TOP TEN RITUALISTS

Following the other lists on Early Nollywood, this weekend, I’m compiling a list for the top ritualists in Nollywood. This list solely concerns some of the best Blood money partakers, Nollywood has ever seen, bear in mind, we aren’t just talking about people who did juju, but those who did juju with the aim of making money. So, the likes of Patience Ozokwor and Chiwetalu Agu, whose sole purpose of using jazz was to kill, maim and destroy, rather than elevate their own financial status, will not be included in this list, but will be saved for another list.

So, without further ado, here is a list of the guys who convinced us that they had the best blood money priests on speed dial, and that anyone wearing a cowboy hat is a ritualist .

10 Tony Umez

First off on the list, is the universal mugu, Tony Umez. Tony was never one of the inner circle ritualists, no, he’s the confused, cowardly guy that only got in because of peer pressure and his wife, constantly harassing and bullying him. More often than not, he’s the first one to mess up and do something unforgivably stupid. Very good at begging for his life after he has irrevocably messed up, Tony rarely ever survives whatever blood money rituals he goes into.

9 Jerry Amilo

Jerry may have been one of the youngest ritualists in Nollywood back in the day. He was the leader of the young boys ritualist gang, he also served as chief recruiter. Before Yul Edochie and Malay money came onto the scene, Jerry was the plug if you need fast blood money and you were below thirty-five years of age. He took some of his friends Across the Bridge, in one of those popular ritualist movies, and introduced them to the revered Nwanyi Asaba, whose breast milk had the power to make you rich beyond your wildest dreams. So, next time, when you hear someone refer to a lady’s massive boobies as ala nwanyi asaba, rememeber that Jerry was the plug

8 Prince Emeka Ani

Prince Emeka Ani was always part of the inner circle of ritualists and council of elders in the group. He was one of those responsible for ex-communicating any errant ritualist, and organizing midnight sessions to deal with pastors who try to break up their ring. Emeka’s glare was only second to Pete Edochie’s, and his beard was enough to scare any right-thinking human.

7 Zach Orji

Zach Orji’s ritualist story shares similarities with that of Tony Umez, in the sense that, he usually went into it due to peer pressure and an unsupportive wife, or a wife who supported ritualism. Zach Orji usually had to be led to do everything. Someone within the inner circle always liked him enough to spoonfeed him through the process, but eventually, if you ain’t got it, you ain’t got it, and Zack never really had the balls for rituals. He was usually the bad recruit, the one who would eventually lead to the downfall of the entire ritualist ring, but not before it had taken away some of his loved ones. In fact, it was the death of his loved ones that would lead him to a church, to ask for forgiveness.

6 Charles Okafor

Just like Jerry Amilo, Charles played the recruit a lot of times, for ritualist rings. He was also responsible for doing some of the dirty work. Unlike Jerry though, he was recruiting for the big guys. He was the go-between of the senior men and the upcoming ritualists . Charles was also the guy who always warned the wimpy recruits to desist from their imminent stupidity, whenever they were losing their minds and set to leave the life. He rarely ever survived the destruction of the blood money guys, but at least, e dey try

5 Clem Ohameze

If you want to finish Clem, just tell him to bring his mother for rituals

Clem is another bad recruit in the blood money gang. He was the one guy that, in hindsight, should never have been invited to the table to begin with. He had a thing for being a poor man, who would beg his newly rich friend to show him the way to his money, and he would foolishly walk into anything, because he was desperate for cash. He was usually warned multiple times, before-hand, but e too dey form hard guy, so e no dey hear word….until his first son becomes an slowpoke. Clem was particularly good at crying, and begging for mercy from whatever god that had blessed him with the blood money, but it was all to no avail, because the only way out for him, most of the time, is through death.

4 Alex Usifo

Another member of the inner circle, Alex Usifo was the ritualist with twenty years ritual experience. He always had a few words of advice for the youngings and lived his baby boy life to the hilt. A man about town, if the group needed some young ladies who were no longer in need of their destinies, they would find them at whatever party Alex Usifo was organizing. Let us call him the Resource Manager of your average Blood Money Group of Companies

3 Kenneth Okonkwo

Most people in Nigeria were introduced to the woes of blood money through Kenneth Okonkwo in the iconic movie, Living in Bondage. Yes, Kenneth Okonkwo was the friend who was down and out and desperately needed a come-up, and was ultimately lured into the gruesome blood money circle. He, like many of us on the internet today, was never really patient enough, to look through the terms and conditions of the organization he was subscribing to, and so, fell into a rabbit hole, he was generally unprepared for.
Kenneth would reprise that role of the clueless ritualist over and over again, in his Nollywood career. However, after almost ten years in the game, Nollywood producers finally acknowledged the OG status of Kenneth in the ritual game, and upgraded his post, so that he became part of the inner circle- occasionally. But his role in that iconic movie, will forever remain ingrained in the minds of all blood money movie watchers.

2 Pete Edochie

The CEO of Blood Money Gang, mixer of the jazz, Founder, Ogwu Ego Group of Companies, the only one allowed into the inner chamber to fraternize with the gods of ogwu ego, Pete Edochie was always the Supreme Leader in the group. All the recruits had to pass through him, and any recruit that mssed up, had to face him. And he was unforgiving, his sneer alone, will send the fear of God down your spine.

Pete was involved in so many rituals, whether it was putting people into coffins to sleep, or pounding newborn babies to cook a strong medicine for quick money. He never suffered fools, had not time for he whimpering cowards like Tony Umez and once your face appears on his mirror or in his calabash, e don be for you. You either run mad or die, but your life was essentially over. In fact, if Pete has to leave his den to come to your house, just prepare yourself, because your time is surely up. This man was so good in blood money, I’m sure a lot of people must have genuinely believed he engaged in it.

My most memorable movie of Pete Edochie doing money rituals, was this movie, where he used a girl who sells banana for rituals, and her ghost used to haunt him, with her tray of bananas on her head, crying “Buy banana” I am not ashamed to say, that as a child, that scene haunted me for years.

1 Kanayo O. Kanayo

And finally, the King of them all, the number one ritualist in Nigeria and beyond, the only man that till today, his face alone, inspires tales of mutilated bodies, and kidnappings, Kanayo O. Kanayo. This man is so good, his name, KOK, is synonymous to ritual. There is nobody KOK cannot use for rituals, no relationship is too sacred; his mother, wife, children, siblings, even his pastor. KOK was ruthless, he only lived by one rule, and that was, Money must be made, by any means necessary. If KOK has acted 100 movies in Nollywood, at least 70 of them had him doing money rituals.

He was the plug, to all your necessary ritual needs. If you need the poop of a six-month old tse-tse fly, KOK knew where to take you, you want the intestine of an albino tortoise, KOK had a guy who could arrange it. Nothing was too great or too little for KOK to find on this earth, and no powers against him could defeat him. This man is the Elite ritualist through and through, they don’t make ‘em better than KOK.

Our Jagaban of the ritual world has mostly retired from the roles, but KOK will forever be the Eze ndi Ogwu Ego.